NBA conference: Falana questions VeryDarkMan’s invitation as controversy deepens

NBA conference: Falana questions VeryDarkMan’s invitation as controversy deepens

Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has criticised the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for inviting social media activist Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), to speak at its 66th Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Falana said the NBA conference should maintain its tradition of bringing people with established expertise and professional experience to engage lawyers on important national issues, particularly when the subject is national security.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, Falana said previous NBA conferences were focused on intellectual engagement and learning rather than entertainment.

“In those days, the NBA brought individuals who had paid their dues, who were coming to engage lawyers intellectually. We wanted to learn from them, and so none of our conferences was a circus show in the past,” Falana said.

The senior lawyer said his concern was not simply about VDM’s personality but the relevance of his professional background to the subject for which he was invited.

Falana argued that anyone invited to speak on Nigeria’s security architecture should have demonstrated experience or made meaningful contributions to the country’s security sector.

“So, if you are bringing in an expert to discuss the security of the country, either from the private or public sector, such an individual must have contributed to the security architecture of the country,” he said.

“But when you bring people who have nothing to do with the security of the country, there are problems,” Falana added.

He compared the decision to inviting someone without professional experience in journalism to speak at a conference on press freedom.

“It’s like talking about media freedom, press freedom. You are going to bring practitioners in that field, either in academics or in the newsroom. But to just go and bring somebody from nowhere to come and entertain you, there are problems with that,” he said.

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VDM’s invitation has generated significant debate among lawyers and other commentators, with some describing his participation as inappropriate for a professional gathering while others argue that his experience documenting insecurity, kidnappings and violence gives him a perspective worth hearing.

VDM was invited to a panel session at the conference titled “Known Gunmen or Unknown Gunmen”, where he discussed his experiences covering insecurity and visiting communities affected by killings and attacks.

The 66th Annual General Conference of the NBA brought together lawyers, policymakers, public officials, academics and other stakeholders for discussions on legal, professional and national issues.

Responding to criticism over his invitation, VDM said he was not brought to the conference to teach lawyers about legal practice but to share his experiences of Nigeria’s security challenges.

He argued that the worsening security situation affects everyone, including members of the legal profession and the judiciary.

During the panel, VDM made several allegations concerning the causes of insecurity in Nigeria. Among his most controversial claims was that some police officers operating checkpoints on major highways allegedly identify wealthy travellers and pass information about their identities and movements to kidnappers, who then target them for ransom.

He also alleged that some government officials and security agencies benefit from the country’s insecurity, although he did not provide evidence for the claims during the session.

The allegations prompted a response from the Nigeria Police Force, which rejected the claims and invited VDM to provide evidence.

The Force described the allegations concerning police checkpoints as serious and unsubstantiated, saying they could unfairly damage the reputation of an institution whose personnel are deployed across the country to prevent crime and protect citizens.

The police said officers working at checkpoints routinely face attacks from kidnappers, bandits and other criminal groups and maintained that the primary purpose of such checkpoints is to protect travellers and detect criminal activity.

Commissioner of Police in charge of Safer Highways, Silas Aremu, also challenged the suggestion that police checkpoints routinely serve as channels for passing travellers’ information to criminals.

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While acknowledging that individual officers could potentially engage in misconduct, Aremu said the existence of criminals around checkpoints did not establish that police officers were collaborating with them.

The police subsequently formally invited VDM to substantiate his allegations.

In response, VDM said he was prepared to face the authorities but would not hand over his evidence during police questioning. He said he would rather present whatever evidence he had in court if the matter resulted in prosecution.

The controversy surrounding VDM’s appearance was further heightened after the NBA presented him with a recognition award following his participation in the conference.

The recognition attracted additional reactions, with supporters arguing that the award acknowledged his willingness to share his experiences on insecurity, while critics questioned whether it was appropriate given the controversial nature of some of his claims.

Those defending the NBA’s decision have argued that VDM’s invitation should be viewed within the broader objective of engaging voices outside the traditional legal establishment.

Supporters point to his extensive public advocacy on insecurity and his interactions with victims and communities affected by violence. They argue that the legal profession can benefit from hearing firsthand accounts from people who operate outside formal government and professional structures.

Critics, however, maintain that an NBA conference should prioritise speakers with demonstrable expertise, particularly on specialised subjects such as national security, and that public popularity should not substitute for professional competence.

The disagreement has therefore developed into a broader debate over the purpose of professional conferences and whether organisations such as the NBA should limit speakers to conventional experts or deliberately include unconventional voices with firsthand experience of issues affecting society.

For Falana, the central concern is that discussions on sensitive subjects should be anchored by people with established knowledge and experience.

His comments have consequently added another dimension to the controversy over VDM’s invitation, coming at a time when the activist is also facing pressure from the police to substantiate allegations made during the conference.

The debate around VeryDarkMan’s NBA invitation has therefore moved beyond whether he was suitable to participate in the conference. It has also raised questions about the role of social media personalities in national discourse, the value of firsthand experience and the responsibility of professional bodies when inviting unconventional speakers.

NBA conference: Falana questions VeryDarkMan’s invitation as controversy deepens